One last tea for NYD.
I decided to steep this in the gaiwan after rinsing the leaves quickly with boiling water.
Man, oh man, They are not kidding about this tea being fragrant! It is lemony! And a little bit like asparagus. It’s very refreshing but the first steep had a tiny bit of “bite” to it which made me wonder if it was kind of young (it is from 2010). I did this one for 30 seconds with boiling water. I see now they recommended 10 seconds with not hot water for the first steep.
The second steep I did for less time and with not such hot water. Now I am getting more floral notes in addition to the zesty ones.
Third steep is definitely getting softer. Some clover types notes which are very gentle. I can see this would be a good after dinner tea or good for nausea. Somehow it is settling my stomach.
Fourth steep: I decided I would go back to using boiling water and would steep it for 2 minutes an an experiment. The first steep was actually my favorite here but this one is pretty good too. We are back to slighty lemony and flowery with a bit more “bite” again. This really has a kind of fizzy quality in my opinion. a tiny bit drying perhaps due to the age… this would get bitter if steeped too long I think. I really like it though!
Really an interesting sheng from Bana!
